The Spin About Lower Airfares is a Bundle of Lies

Skift Take

Because of airlines’ unbundling of fares, it’s hard to get an apples to apples comparison of airfares then and now, but this article makes an admirable attempt at getting past the government and airline industry handouts to get at the truth of the trends.

The true cost of flying is on the rise, although the airline industry is telling a different story. Pictured, travelers standing in line at the LAX International Airport in Los Angeles on April 22, 2013. Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press

The truth, of course, is the exact opposite. The real price of flying has risen sharply since the dawn of deregulation and far outpaces the inflation rate of the last 40 years.

The government’s data come from the reliable Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), but suffer from outdated methodology that ignores the airline industry’s relentless drive to strip products and services from the published airfare.